International Day of Prayer to Proclaim Jesus Christ is Lord to the Arab World and the United States. A way to change ‘the spiritual map of the world’

By Dan WoodingFounder of ASSIST Ministries

Dr. Ray Sleiman

The Lebanon Prayer Group, a California-based Christian
ministry, has told to ANS that its Annual International Day of Prayer for
the Arab World and the United States will be held on... (Click for more information)

“This is an opportunity for the community of born again Christian
believers to unite in worship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and
for prayer on behalf of the Arab world and the United States,” said Dr.
Ray Sleiman, pastor of Grace and Truth Gospel Church in Long Beach and
founder of The Lebanon Prayer Group.

“Our prayer is to reach the almost 400 million Moslems in the
Middle East with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We pray for the evangelical
churches in the region and for God’s opening of the door in order to
reach so many Moslems with the gospel. For the last 20 years we have
seen the Lord answer our prayers in a dramatically meticulous way.

“We believe strongly that the hundreds of thousands of new
Christian converts in the Arab world this past decade are a direct
answer to these prayers,” Dr. Sleiman, a urologist from Lebanon, who is
married with two children, continued.

He says that there has been an unprecedented growth of Christianity
among Moslems in the last few years, but evangelicals constitute only
one percent of the population of Lebanon.

“Much more evangelism is needed in that country and in the other
19 Arabic-speaking countries in the Middle East and North Africa,” he
said. “Much also needs to be done in the way of discipling and
consolidating the new believers, and encouraging the evangelical
churches to effectively reach out to the rest of Middle East.”

Pastor George Saieg pictured with Dan Wooding at KWVE radio station after an interview for Dan’s Front Page Radio program

Pastor George Saieg with Ministry to Muslims Network writes
in support of this day of prayer, stating, “With the command of Christ,
the leading of the Holy Spirit and the obedience of the church, every
Muslim in America will be reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Pastor Allan Esses, founder of Yes JesusIs Lord,
also supports this day of prayer. He told ANS, “What a joy to gather as
the body of Jesus Christ to pray that Moslems through out the Arab
World and the United States would come to the saving knowledge of Jesus
Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.

“Our desire is to give Moslems the opportunity to hear the
gospel, so that by believing in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, God who
came in the flesh, died and shed His blood on a cross for all our sins,
was buried and was bodily raised from the dead, and by faith in Jesus
Christ alone they can have eternal life.”

“We are calling for a larger participation by churches all over
the world to rise to the great challenge, and opportunity to pray on the
International Day of Prayer for the Arab World and the United States,”
Dr. Sleiman said.

“The eternal destiny of hundreds of millions in the Middle East
is at stake. Only God, who began this great opportunity, knows how brief
and fleeting it may be,” Dr. Sleiman added.

“Today we are faced with many great challenges: there are more
than one billion un-reached Muslims, terrorism has become a global
concern, potentially explosive conditions in the Middle-East are
numerous, and persecution of the church is growing. In view of these
massive challenging needs, we must have a sense of urgency to pray,” he
said.

Sleiman provided the following scriptural references in support of the prayer and evangelism initiative:

* In Matthew 28:18-19 – Acts 1:8 “And Jesus came and spoke
to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on
earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations… and you
shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and
to the end of the earth.”

* Jesus taught that prevailing prayer
is the key to effective evangelism and the sending of “Workers into the
harvest” (Matthew 9:36-38).

* “Therefore I say to you, whatever
things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you
will have them.” (Mark 11:24).

Dr. Sleiman went on to say, “If we truly believe these promises, how
can we neglect to pray? Like no other time before, your participation in
this year’s Day of Prayer for the Arab World and the United States is
crucial. Please, begin praying.”

He concluded by saying, “If you live elsewhere in the US or
overseas, please begin preparing your local church to have a similar
prayer day on Saturday the 1st, or Sunday the 2nd of May. Prayer
requests are posted on our website (To Sign-Up Please Click Here).
The names of all participating congregations will be listed in the
program. And may our Lord continue to be glorified in changing the
spiritual map of our world.”